More than 40% of people from across Britain do not believe there should be a currency union if Scotland becomes independent, according to a poll.

The Springboard UK poll for the Sunday Express carried out in England, Wales and Scotland found 44% of those asked the question "If Scotland votes for independence should there be a currency union?" replied with "No".

A total of 22% welcomed sharing the pound while the remainder said they were not sure.

However, the figures for Scotland revealed 60% of those polled were in support of a currency union, 21% were opposed and 19% did not know.

A spokesman for Yes Scotland said: "Previous polling showed that over 70% of people in the rest of the UK would want to share the pound with an independent Scotland, and of course Westminster can't stop Scotland using the pound - as Alistair Darling admitted in last week's TV debate.

"A currency union would be in the interests of both an independent Scotland and the rest of the UK - if Westminster refused to share financial assets with Scotland, it follows that the rest of the UK would be saddled with all the national debt, adding an extra £5 billion a year in debt payments to taxpayers south of the border.

"We already know that the economics will trump the bluffing of the No campaign parties after a Yes vote, because an unnamed UK Government minister let the cat of the bag when they said 'of course' there will be a currency union."

The poll of 2,008 people was carried out on August 28.

A spokesman for Better Together said: "Alex Salmond says that a currency union would be 'the sovereign will of the Scottish people' but people in the rest of the UK would have to agree. They don't. He needs to come clean on the plan B for what currency we would use if we vote to separate.

"If there is a yes vote it is quite clear that the rest of the UK would not have a mandate to deliver a eurozone-style currency union. It is not in the interests of Scotland and it is not in the interest of the rest of the UK.

"Just this week the First Minister of Wales said that if we leave then we could not share the pound.

"People are voting right now. It is an absolute disgrace that we are making the biggest decision in the history of our country and we don't even know what currency we would use if we left the UK."

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